THE EASTERN DEAL : Workers Express Joy as News of Sale Breaks

Frank Lorenzo had tried to fly Eastern Airlines without them, and now the striking workers were getting their jobs back--without Frank Lorenzo.

“Ding-dong, the witch is dead,” a handful of them sang, hugging each other’s shoulders. “Which old witch? The wicked witch!”

Thursday afternoon, hundreds packed a union hall in Miami--machinists, pilots, flight attendants. The announcement was about to come.

They stared at the TV perched on the wall. A game show was on. The screen blinked. News bulletin! And there it was: The airline had been sold.

Lorenzo, Eastern’s chairman, was out. Peter V. Ueberroth, the former baseball commissioner, was in. That changed the tune. “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” they sang.

To them, this was the victory of a lifetime: the greatest day for American labor in 50 years! some giddily proclaimed.

“We supported the American worker instead of the American corporation,” said flight attendant Joan Babcock, her little daughter in her arms. “This shows what happens if workers stick together.”

Ken Wolters , an Eastern pilot for 24 years, stared into the rejoicing mass. He was philosophical as well as jubilant. “Capitalism is what our economy is based on in the free Western world,” he said, “but that means capitalism with morality, with ethics, not for greed, not for the gain of only man.”

Lorenzo-bashing was the sport of the day. His name, printed inside a circle with a diagonal line through it, was on posters and balloons. “Hey, ho, ho, Lorenzo has got to go,” rode the air like a ritual incantation.

This was the 34th day of the strike. Frank Ortis, vice president of the machinists local, grabbed the microphone. Calm down, he cautioned. Nothing is settled yet. The strike goes on.

Things did quiet down for a minute or so. Then the TV blared again. The press conference in New York was on live. Lorenzo filled the screen.

“I don’t mind telling you that the alternative we have chosen today does not give us the greatest return . . . .” he said, almost altruistically.

That started a chorus of heckling.

“Liar!”

“Creep!”

“Drop dead!”

“Bye, bye, Frank.”

People made Elmer Fudd noises. They hissed. They shook their fists.

Lorenzo then turned the podium over to Ueberroth. The crowd whooped as if some slugger had emerged from the dugout to doff his cap.

“It’s a new concept in aviation, where 60% of the company will be owned by the people who work for the company,” he said.

Only a Few Misgivings

This time the chorus was all huzzahs.

“Thank you.”

“He’s good!”

Only briefly did Ueberroth arouse misgivings. For some, his plea for unity seemed to go too far to include those who had crossed picket lines.

“Be careful,” Ken Wolters whispered.

These workers do not know too much about Ueberroth, only that he has been guardian of the national pastime and torchbearer of the Olympic Games.

“Everything he has worked with, he has built up,” said flight attendant Sandy Sindicich. “And anyway, just by getting us away from Lorenzo, he has raised morale a million percent.”

Ueberroth can enter with the confidence of a preacher who knows that the flock will be generous with the collection plate. One after another, workers said they would be willing to take a pay cut.

“We’ll sacrifice for him, as long as we feel he’s building the airline back up instead of tearing it down,” said forklift operator Larry Burgess.

Lorenzo bought troubled Eastern in 1986. Ever since, he has been in a face-off with union leaders, who accuse him of wanting to sell off pieces of the company rather than keep it together.

With the TV finally turned off and workers hugging their friends, machinists local President Marty Urra asked for everyone’s attention.

‘A Cure for Cancer’

He reminded them that working conditions these past years had been terrible. “Remember those who have committed suicide,” he said. Or who have given up their jobs. Or marriages. Or mortgages.

That’s right, members of the crowd agreed, somber and hearty all at the same time. “I’d like to see Frank Lorenzo on a picket line one day,” said Danny Rogers, a mechanic. “That man could use a humbling experience.”

Rogers was standing beside his pal Julio Valentin. Tonight was a night to get out the good Scotch. They tried to remember when they had been happier. “When my first baby was born,” Rogers said.

Valentin thought about it. “When my wife was cured of cancer,” he said. “And that’s what this is like, being cured for cancer.”

No one was sure when they would actually get back to work. The sooner the better, everyone agreed. Money was tight.

Ray Williams, a fueler, had already begun accepting cash from his sons. “And that sinks you kind of low,” he said.

Then, he, too, grew philosophical. “In the long run, the man upstairs always looks out for you,” he said. “You always get your just due.

“That’s true for the working man. And that will be true for Frank Lorenzo.”

EASTERN STRIKE CHRONOLOGY

Highlights of Eastern Airlines’ labor and bankruptcy turmoil during the past two months:

Feb. 1: Eastern rejects binding arbitration offer by National Mediation Board, which declares a 30-day cooling-off period.

Feb. 9: Eastern suspends about 100 Machinists union members without pay after sporadic walkouts and slowdowns.

Feb. 15: More than 97% of Eastern’s 8,500 machinists authorize a strike. Eastern still seeks $150 million in wage concessions; machinists want $50 million in raises.

Feb. 22: Federal mediator begins meeting again with Eastern and union officials. No progress reported.

March 1: Eastern makes sweetened contract offer to pilots to try to keep them flying if machinists strike.

March 2: Pilots reject offer. Eastern offers machinists new contract that would reduce pay but keep it 13% higher than employees who took 1986 cut.

March 3: President Bush refuses mediation board request to use authority under Railway Labor Act to delay strike 60 days. Machinists sent home for the day after Eastern alleges planned sabotage. Machinists reject latest contract offer. Eastern cancels up to 75% of weekend flights but pledges to hire substitute workers. Talks collapse at midnight.

March 4: Strike begins, canceling almost 90% of Eastern flights, stranding passengers across nation, in Caribbean and Latin America.

March 5: Few Eastern flights take off as pilots honor the strike. Eastern warns pilots that they risk their future by honoring the machinists’ picket lines. Machinists threaten to create nationwide commuter snarls by picketing 12 commuter railroads and Amtrak but cancel plans after federal judge in New York bars employees on three of the rail lines from honoring picket lines.

March 6: Eastern lays off 7,000 non-union workers and cancels all flights except those on its Northeast shuttle and three round trips weekly between Miami and South America. Airline asks federal judge to order pilots back to work.

March 7: Federal judge refuses to order Eastern pilots back to work. Eastern warns it cannot operate for more than 48 to 72 hours without pilots and could file for bankruptcy protection. Pilots union reports overture by management seeking new talks. Eastern furloughs 2,500 more employees. Threatened national safety slowdown by pilots union has only sporadic effect. House subcommittee approves bill that would require Bush to intervene in strike. Bush reiterates opposition to intervention but says he will ask Congress to ban secondary boycotts if the machinists try to shut down rail service.

March 8: TWA Chairman Carl C. Icahn says he is willing to talk with machinists asking him to seek control of Eastern. Eastern announces reduced shuttle rates: weekend one-way fares for $12 and weekday fares of $49. USAir announces deal to acquire Eastern’s two Philadelphia-Canada routes and eight gates at Philadelphia airport.

March 9: Eastern files for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

March 15: A federal bankruptcy judge issues an emergency order forcing Eastern’s rivals to honor pacts with the carrier for transferring passengers and cargo.

March 16: Eastern tells its remaining workers to put in up to 60 hours a week without overtime and take periodic time off without pay.

March 20: Flight attendants call a strike at Continental Airlines, Eastern’s sister carrier. Real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump seeks to cut at least $125 million from the $365 million he agreed to pay last October for Eastern’s Northeast shuttle.

March 24: Continental flight attendants end walkout.

March 30: Texas Air rejects a $464-million buyout proposal for Eastern from a group headed by baseball commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth. Sources say the company may have been leaning toward a higher offer from billionaire Hyatt hotel executive Jay A. Pritzker.

March 31: Trump announces that he has completed a restructured deal to buy Eastern’s Northeast shuttle for $365 million. The new deal provides him with four additional Boeing 727s.

April 4: Ueberroth’s group makes a new offer to purchase Eastern, according to airline industry and baseball sources. The price and terms were not disclosed.

April 6: Texas Air agrees to sell Eastern to Ueberroth’s investment group for $464 million in cash and securities. The deal will give employees a 30% ownership share in Eastern in return for concessions on wages and work rules.

Source: Associated Press

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Part I, Page 1